OCCULT HEPATITIS B VIRUS INFECTION AMONG BLOOD DONORS WITH ANTIBODIES TO HEPATITIS B CORE ANTIGEN

Diagnosis of hepatitis b is routinely based on of serological assay of hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag). occult hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection is generally defined as the detection of hbv -dna in the serum or tissues of subjects who have negative test for hbsag. transmission of hbv infection has been documented from hbsag negative, anti-hbc positive blood and organ donors. the aim of this study was to determine the rate of occult hbv infection among hbsag negative and anti- hbc positive blood donors of rafsanjan blood transfusion center. sera from 270 healthy blood donors who were negative for both hbsag and anti-hcv, were tested for anti-hbc antibodies by use of elisa technique. the samples that were negative for hbsag but positive for anti-hbc markers also examined for the presence of hbv-dna by polymerase chain reaction (pcr). out of 270 hbsag negative blood samples, 14 samples (5.18%) were positive for anti-hbc antibodies. hbv-dna was detected in 4/14 (28.57%) of hbsag negative and anti-hbc positive samples. moreover, anti-hbs antibody was detected in 2/4 (50%) of hbv-dna positive samples. these results indicated that hbv- dna found in the majority of hbsag negative and anti-hbc-positive donors. in addition, the present study recommend the incorporation of routine anti-hbc screening of blood as a surrogate marker of occult hbv infection to prevent some transfusion-transmitted hbv infections.